July 13

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New Guinea
July 13, 1945

Dear Sis,

As I mentioned in my last letter to Hilda, I will be evacuated to the States as soon as the next boat leaves from here. In that letter I also mentioned that you had nothing to worry about, as far as my physical condition was concerned; I just need a change of air, that’s all. I guess you have received Colonel Good’s letter by now and I presume that you had it framed and put it on the mantlepiece, ahem, that letter must be a pip, I am sure.

For the last thirty days I have been living the life of Riley – clean sheets, mattress, pajamas, etc. However, I’ll be glad when I get out of the hospital atmosphere; this has been the first time that I stayed in a hospital, and I know it is also the last time (unless somebody breaks my neck when I come back). I, for a change, am now going through the experience of not getting any mail; by gosh, I don’t like it – especially now. I am very glad that I’ll be able to take some of the load off your shoulders (ADDENDUM: “you great big, beautiful doll”); you’ve been doing your and my share of good work while I have been over here, unable to be of help because of the great distance. Get ready for a big conference as soon as I return; I have been doing a lot of planning and I want to compare notes with you. As soon as I arrive, I’ll get in touch with you to let you know where I’ll be staying. In all probability I’ll be granted a furlough after a while.

Well, it’s no use to write anymore, as I’ll be talking things over with you over the dinner table. I am looking forward to seeing you and am anxious to meet your husband. Give my best regards to all the folks and tell them that I’ll be seeing them soon.

Love,
Harry

P.S. Don’t write anymore letters, please.

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Harry’s mock newspaper headline alludes to the U.N. Conference that took place in San Francisco. When I was looking at old newspapers in search of the article posted on July 9, many of the June newspaper headlines were about the U.N., including a copy of the U.N. Charter in one edition of the paper.

We saw Lieutenant Colonel Good’s letter in the June 18 post and Harry’s follow-up letter to Hilda on June 20 to allay the family’s fears that the first letter caused when it arrived.

Without going into specifics, Harry assures his sister Eva that upon his return he will be able to help with their efforts to bring their mother to San Francisco from Istanbul. As we saw in the July 10 post, at this point Helene is interned in a hotel, unable to walk freely through the city, and having no resources to make her way to the U.S.

In Harry’s “addendum,” he quotes the title of a 1911 song that was featured in several films and sung by many artists.

July 12

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Helene wrote this letter just 3 days before she and Vitali were to have boarded a ship in Lisbon for the United States. Her happiness and hope of a few weeks earlier are gone (see May 29 post), replaced with a fatalism and unease. She writes to Hilda in English, but not with the fluency we see in her letters sent from Istanbul 5 years later. I have edited today’s letter a bit for clarity.

Vienna, July 12. 1941

Dearest Hilda!

I was philanthropical enough to advertise this dangerous letter to you in the last one to the children. Hoping to have plentiful chats with you very soon, I deferred the answer to your charming letter from 12 April. Your letters gave me a great enjoyment, and feeling myself unable to write to you in the same manner, I waited, waited and waited. Indeed, I believed I would have occasion to embrace you in a short time, but our joy was premature. The Lord takes care that trees don’t grow into the heaven. My fatalism entreats of God to be a good man, and the idea that we all are marionettes only, helps us to let things slide. I gave up the eruptions of my temperament at such opportunities and remain silent. Of course, this silence is external but inside, the volcano bubbles. For some weeks, we have lived in a room which has more resemblance to a removal business than to a sitting-room. A pillar, shaped by our luggage, is the most remarkable furniture. No wonder that the scene in my dreams always is of the station or a waiting room in the station, but I never saw the railway in my recent dreams. I feel the inconvenience of a great voyage with insufficient possibilities. My neck and legs become stiff and I have a foretaste of the dreams of future. The most disagreeable thing is that I only dream this unpleasantness. I should prefer the reality of tired extremities and a transient Genickstarre [stiff neck] as a reward for being united with my children, and seeing you and all I want to see again and those I don’t know personally but wishing to know them. Once I read a story of a Schlemiel, who had never fallen in love, but he always dreamed about accidents. He became a father of an illegitimate child - in the dream of course - he gets condemned on account of permitting an abortion -- the poor fellow never had had a sweetheart. With similar feelings I am awakening.

Vitali has compassion for me and advised to write to you in German. What a glorious idea! But for the next time. This letter must leave. Too much softening of the brain it has caused. Forgive me, darling, that always you must be my victim. But I know that my children, including Paul, are for the most part with you and therefore you know most about us.

I love you more than you can imagine, and I am happy at the thought of seeing you. For now, I am sitting at the station, waiting for railroad, not knowing what to do with my arms and legs. I kiss you. Please send Nathan my best wishes for you both. Vitali just now is hunting for food. I wait for him with impatience and a great deal of hunger. Wishing you a good repast, I remain your crazy, foolish, mad, silly, idiotic, weak-minded, imbecile (I am sorry, I didn’t find more synonyms in my dictionary) loving

Helen

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 I found this quotation attributed to Carl Jung:
“No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.”

July 9

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 Six-Year War Silence Broken

A message of love from Helen Kohan in Stockholm yesterday to her son and daughter, Harry and Eva Lowell of San Francisco, brought the first news of the whereabouts of their Viennese mother since the beginning of the European war in 1939.

The word, received by the United Press here, was sent in care of Julius Zentner, Cathedral Apartments, San Francisco, who forwarded the greeting to Eva Lowell, 2379 27th-av, and Harry Lowell, now serving with the U.S. Army in New Guinea.

Mrs. Kohan’s son and daughter have been living in San Francisco since 1939 when they came to this country with Mr. and Mrs. Zentner. Since then both have become citizens of this country and plan to remain.

Miss Lowell recently was graduated from nurses training at Mt. Zion Hospital here and her brother, a corporal in the Army, has been overseas for a year and a half.

Since the children left their mother in Vienna in 1939 they have had no word of her whereabouts. One message delivered through the Red Cross about a year ago told that Mrs. Kohan was well, but yesterday’s message was the first to let them know their mother was in a neutral country.

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I found several newspaper articles in my grandmother’s, mother’s and Harry’s binders, boxes, and envelopes of papers. Fortunately, old editions of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner are online and easily searchable through the public library. In moments, I found dates for the article on hand analyst Josef Ranald and on my grandmother’s win of the Examiner’s social security game.

A citation for today’s article has continued to elude.  One problem is that it took me a while to narrow the possible dates for the article and trust my instincts. There are a lot of clues in the article, but some of them lead to incorrect dates. At first, I thought my search window would need to be over the course of a more than a year. At this point, I believe the article must have appeared between March and June of 1945 – March as the earliest when the Swedish ship Drottningholm set sail, and June when she would have been in Istanbul for two months and at least some mail would have reached her children. Helene mentions in at least one letter of talking to reporters.

One problem with getting the facts right was that Helene would have told the Red Cross what little she knew or remembered from before she was sent to Ravensbrück in 1943. She knew her daughter’s last name was Lowell and that she had begun attending nursing school. The confusion of dates and facts in such a brief article does give me pause as I read anything published – it’s so difficult to know what is the truth, especially if the sources aren’t as reliable as one might wish.

Possible clues to determine the date of the article:

• 6 year silence – 1939 to 1945 works (of course they received more than 100 letters between 1939-1941 so it wasn’t complete silence at the beginning)

• Message of love from Stockholm – Helene took the Swedish ship Drottningholm to Istanbul.

• Eva Lowell – before January 1945, then Goldsmith

• Harry joined the army in 1943, so this is about right

• Eva’s address – same as in the Power Of Attorney for Harry naming Eva Goldsmith

• Eva became a citizen in January 1945 just before getting married

• Eva’s “recent” graduation was 1943

• Red Cross message – I have Red Cross letters from Vitali from Vienna from 1942 and 1943, far more than a year earlier. Perhaps there were letters sent from Ravensbrück or Buchenwald that I haven’t seen.

• In a neutral country – must be Sweden so it couldn’t have been before spring of 1945

Although I narrowed down the dates, I couldn’t figure out which newspaper published it. I assume it would have been a local San Francisco paper. My online search of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner yielded nothing. Last year I sent an email to the now-retired librarian of the San Francisco Chronicle who said he was sure it wasn’t from his paper. Recently, when the San Francisco Public Library reopened after more than a year, I asked for help from a librarian in the San Francisco History Center at the main library. He replied that the article looked like the typeface from the Call-Bulletin which is on microfilm at the library. I spent several bleary-eyed hours poring over microfilm from March through June 1945 with no luck, although the librarian was correct – the layout of the article looks the same as the Call-Bulletin. I probably need to look again, since I believe I was looking in the right window of time.

July 6

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Today we have another letter from Helene to her nephew Paul Zerzawy in New York. Her children are in Istanbul in order to obtain passports to allow them to travel to the US.

 Vienna, 6 July 1939

Dear Paul, do you know how many letters there are now to which you owe me an answer? I don’t mean this in a bad way, I can’t really imagine that it’s a matter of time or that you don’t have the inclination to write to me. But I am also considering that you have other readers and I hope at least that I am pretty high on the list. This jargon must remind you of Zelinkagasse and your previous domain. Across the street from there now is some kind of financial office which has invited me to come by for a visit. When I am there, I will do a little wave to you, at least mentally. By the way, I met in Meistersingerstrasse recently (now you’d probably like to know where that is), it used to be known as Mahlerstrasse, I met the Pomweiser [?]. He asked about how you were doing. He was upset that he hadn’t heard from you. I had to come up with a plausible reason for that, because he asked me for your address so he could write to you. There’s no reason to worry, but partly to amuse you and partly to give other reporters a chance to write about Vitali, I am enclosing an article of the Volkszeitung in English translation. In the last letter I sent to you a copy of our registration cards. What do you think about the number 53? We don’t have very many front men and I believe that it would be our turn soon if we were in possession of an affidavit. Can you make it plausible to our relatives that we would not be a burden on anyone? Vitali’s achievements are unsurpassed and I wanted to ask you to go to some newspaper and ask maybe based on the articles and the material I am sending with this letter and the brochures you asked for so we could have current articles and information about Vitali’s work and that might help us to get the affidavit. It would be wonderful for me if we did not have to bother our relatives who have already done so much for us. As soon as the children are over there, you will get beautiful postcards from me.

For today, just lots of kisses
Helen

Say hello to the Schillers.

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According to the Zerzawy family tree, Paul’s law office in Vienna was located on Zelinkagasse. In looking up this address, I found his home address on Geusaugasse. I was delighted to discover that he lived just around the corner from Helene and her family – my map program says the two homes were just 400 feet apart!

As I read Helene’s letters, I often think about how disorienting life must have been. Life was growing ever more dangerous, rules and bureaucracy changed daily, the country she lived in was now Germany, and even the street names changed – in this case from the name of a Jewish composer from Bohemia to the name of an opera by Wagner. Helene must have had a complicated relationship with Wagner’s music – he was one of her favorite composers, yet was known for his antisemitism and was a favorite of Hitler. Helene named her daughter Eva after the heroine in the Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

The newspaper article that Helene mentions might “amuse” Paul was the hateful article we saw in the April 7 post. Helene continues to be hopeful that Vitali’s occupation would be accepted and thrive in San Francisco.

Meistersingerstrasse no longer appears on a map of Vienna. According to a website of Vienna street names Mahlerstrasse was known as Meistersingerstrasse from 1938-1946 and then reverted back to its previous name.

In the July 1 post, we saw the document Helene sent to Paul about their number of 53 on the Turkish waiting list to emigrate.

Possibly Paul Zerzawy’s law office on Zelinkagasse

July 4

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I believe that the 2 pages below are part of a single letter, although the pages were not obviously together. So page 2 could actually belong to another letter entirely. If taken together, this is a letter from someone named Leo, probably Leo Schauer, Paul’s father’s third wife Eliza’s brother. The letter would have been written to Paul Zerzawy in New York City.

Prague 4 July 1939

Dear Paul!

Up until now I have only sent greetings to you from all of us through your mother.

There have been some regulations that have been announced in the last few days for the conscription of securities and emergency bank notes. The reporting forms for this matter are to be filled out personally by the owners who are in Germany and this is done by affidavit or declaration.

Otto, who is a recent husband and in his honeymoon weeks is finding no time for any extra kind of work and he leaves the office and goes home as soon as possible, asks me to write to you about this and I am happy to take the opportunity to brief you on it.

The mortgage period actually ran out a few weeks ago but has been extended for 3 months. Therefore, you do not have to do anything about this. Just so that the emergency bank notes do not expire and lose their value completely, you need to send the following letter to the Union Bank:

“In your bank with you, I have the amount of 120,000 Czech krone and 3-3/4 are in emergency bank notes on deposit and there is a mortgage of 60,000 Czech krone.

I hereby communicate to you that I have changed my legal address from Prague and today my new address is Paul Z c/o Cooper, 718 West 178th Street, Apt. 44, New York City.”

We read all your reports and we know about everything. Nothing new has happened here. Anny is still waiting for her Gestapo permission to emigrate, but we think that should be taken care of in a few days. Doris is writing reports that she is satisfied and happy and she is waiting with great longing for Anny’s arrival. I was in Poděbrad for a few days, which had a very positive influence on your mother’s state of mind and we have decided that we will certainly do this more often so that she not feel so lonely.

[Page 2:]

We haven’t received any direct news yet from Fritz and Hanne but the transport office has already told us that the transport has landed. The passengers are being registered. They are legal emigrants and they are part of the quota. The advantage of this is that people can keep their name and that the documents that they have had up till now will still be valid. Because there have been some possible cases of typhus during the transport, the participants are only let go after several weeks of quarantine and that’s why there is no direct news from them. We hope to get this news soon. According to the reports of Mr. Zwicker from Haifa, the Lift must have already arrived there. We have decided to send this only because the freight to Haifa can be paid in Czech krone here. Now the sender comes with the unpleasant news that according to the latest regulation, the freight to Haifa must be paid in hard currency when it reaches Trieste. This is about 20 pounds and I do not know at all if Fritz would have this amount available there.

I hope to hear good news from your existential question soon and for today with most sincere greetings from all of us

Your Leo

Rud Hanak reports today that he has received a job in his branch (office machines) with a beginning salary of 1000 pesos and he is quite happy about it. You must make sure to date your letter to the bank exactly on the day it is sent!

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I found this letter in an envelope labeled “Otto” which my mother kept (see January 25 post). It was filled with bank documents and letters between Paul and his stepmother’s son in Palestine. I am not certain who Otto was. There is an Otto on the Zerzawy family tree who is some sort of cousin to Paul. According to the tree, he was an officer of Union Bank in Prague, had married in 1922 and divorced at some point. If it is the same Otto, according to this letter he remarried in 1939.  

Paul Zerzawy’s father Julius died early in 1939. His widow Elise is in Poděbrad, a spa town near Prague. Her son Fritz and his wife Hanne have emigrated to Haifa. Other friends and relatives are strewn across the globe. We saw letters from 1940 from Fritz in the January 25 post and from Elise in the February 10 post.

An aside: isn’t the German word for “honeymoon” wonderful?: Flitterwochen

July 3

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Today we have a letter written from Helene in Vienna to her children Eva and Harry in San Francisco.

 Vienna, 1 July 1941

My dear children! Do you remember how much we once laughed when I asked Dr. W, a friend of Paul’s, how he liked Linz where he had moved to and he replied: “Yes, Linz is a lovely city. You can drive to either side of it, but you don’t realize that until your first year there. The second year you become used to it and you realize that it doesn’t do any good to wish that you could leave. The third year you’re already a fool, and the fourth year you’re a real Linzer native.” I am sort of at that point myself. I don’t know if Dr. W knew then how wonderful it is to have the possibility of driving in both directions. I doubt it. Another advantage he forgot to mention: after only 4 days you get a letter that was mailed from Vienna. That’s how it was at one point. But my membership in the Linz club as it were I can claim because of the condition of never getting any mail, and that I can’t even drive away in one direction. Certainly, our deus ex machina does not think it’s the right moment for this to happen or otherwise he would have already intervened. I wait for him, although I know that he will not appear even one second earlier than planned. He’ll be on time, but always at the last moment! If I were not so terribly worried about you, I would just wait patiently, but the way it is, it is very, very painful and the mail is merciless.

Today is the first day that Papa is an independent gentleman. This morning we gave our successor the keys to the shop. In the beginning of September, the shop will probably come out of its summer hibernation. They say that walls have ears. If they had a mouth too and could talk, they could really amuse many of us. When we were going on a walk through the city yesterday, Vitali showed me a shop that looked even more dusty than ours. It looked like Zwieback! (May it rest in peace.) Papa only goes downstairs to send a letter to you. It’s a real private life! But I [don’t] expect him back soon because many of his acquaintances haven’t said good-bye to him and they will not let him leave unless they can shake his hand. Today they will supposedly issue visas again. We’ll see if we’re included in the group.

I kiss you most fervently and I send you my best greetings.

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We can feel the anticipation and anxiety as Helene and Vitali’s departure date of July 15 nears. The tale of Helene’s nephew Paul’s friend’s experience of Linz makes us feel the claustrophobia and paralysis they’ve felt the past several years in Vienna. It sounds Vienna was feeling like a ghost town, with many stores closed or abandoned. Certainly something we can relate to in the last year when the entire world shut down due to Covid.

In 2017, Vienna’s Jewish Museum had an exhibition in 2017 on Jewish-owned department stores, including Zwieback. According to an article on the exhibit, these stores had disappeared by 1938. On page 257 of this PDF link, you can see a picture of a changing room at Zwieback Department store in 1910.

In the last line, Helene mentions waiting for a visa — we learned in the June 19 post of their giving up their store and that the American Consulate was closed for vacation during the last two weeks of June.

July 2

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COMPANY “F”
1ST QUARTERMASTER TRAINING REGIMENT
FORT FRANCIS E. WARREN, WYOMING

2 July 1943

COMMENDATION:
To: ALL MEMBERS OF THIS COMMAND.

We “doo’ed it again. Hats off to our valiant cage ball warriors who last evening walloped a cocky Co. “A” team 2-1/2 - 1-1/2 in a hard-fought tussle which on several occasions verged on the brink of a free-for-all. Capt. Morris, C.O. of our opponents, stood on the sidelines with a wide grin on his face before the game, feeling confident that his charges were going to smash us into the ground and conquer us with little difficulty.

Perhaps his confidence was shaken a bit when the referee proceeded to send 8 men off the field 00 these men were above the 40-player limit; it seems our foxy foe didn’t think that the referee would bother to count the men. It may be well to note that we were able to muster only 37 men for this tilt, but what we did have was sufficient as the final score well indicates.

However, in the first few minutes of the games we were on the defensive, finally succumbing to a cheap ½ point goal. At this point our cagers came to life as an unstoppable juggernaut as we zoomed to a 2-1/2 lead as the half ended. Putting in some reserves to open the last half the 1st Battalion battlers held the upper hand as our weary, battle-scarred men fought desperately to protect our lead. At last we were nicked for a point, but sandwiched between we salvaged ½ point as security. The gun sounded ending the game and we had upset the dope bucket again proving that the rest of the teams had better respect our play. 

Again the heroes were many and it will be impossible to mention them all. But special honors are to be made. Take Chennault for instance; that chubby rascal took things pretty well into his own hands as he went twenty-five yards thru’ the opposition to score. And how about “Skyscraper” Mike O’Brien who was getting his big mitts on that overgrown pill just when it counted. It was a game hearted Champ who inspired our big rally in the first half; ignoring a painful side injury Champ played the last half out, champ that he is. The “Dead End Kids” – Hendrix, Kucab, Lowell, Winters, and Kantor dished out plenty and I’d hate to see what Co. “A”’s sick book looked like this morning.

Good work fella’s. This was another jump toward the championship which we are looking forward to copping. Nevertheless, no matter what the future brings we shant forget this glorious conquest. We pay tribute to the following men who comprised the team last night.

…..Lowell, Harry….

CHARLEY (I’VE GOT A TEAM) LUHN
Cpl. Acting Athletic Director

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When I saw the word “Commendation” at the beginning of this memo, my first reaction was that I was about to learn something important about Harry’s military service. Certainly, helping morale is important – the team’s success and this hilarious memo probably did the trick.  

I found several references to different versions of “cage ball.” It could be a game of volleyball played with a large ball, since Harry wrote of playing volleyball in the regiment in the April 21 and May 3 posts. However, given the number of men on each team, I am guessing it’s closer to “Pushball.” I found an old photo of students playing Cage Ball at Springfield College in Massachusetts.

July 1

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Today we have a letter and document each from July 1, 1939 concerning the Cohen family’s efforts to come to the United States.

 American Consulate General Vienna, Germany

Mr. & Mrs. Haim Seneor Cohen and Helene Cohen

Under consideration of the questionnaire which you have filled out and submitted here containing your request for preregistration for the purpose of emigration into the United States of America, it is being communicated to you that you have been registered as of the date October 21, 1938 on the Turkish waiting list under the preregistration number Turk. 53 D, 53 E.

You will be notified in good time when your number on the waiting list has come up. This written document is to be carefully preserved. A copy cannot be issued. The preregistration number is not the same as the quota number.

Stamp: American Consulate General Vienna, Germany                 July 1, 1939

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Vienna 1 July 1939

My dear Paul! On the 20th of July, the children have an appointment for a medical examination. Since we took all necessary steps to take care of this formality in Istanbul, it is not impossible that the emigration of the two children can happen at an even earlier time than we thought. All documents are ready. Vitali has really outdone himself this time. If I try to tell you about his work, there’s too much to delve into. As soon as we have the date set, we will let Arthur know and the Zentners so you will know about receiving the children. I am very happy that my patience of a lamb is not going to leave me in the lurch. It becomes clearer every day that doubt is a sacrilege. There are also things I could say about me, but I’m protected from head to toe from everything that does not have to do with the children’s departure. As soon as this question is clarified, you will hear about our plans. I think of you every day and I must ask you not to worry about the future. You have worked so hard in the last few years that the non-voluntary break from work is almost a blessing. We have no reason to tempt fate so don’t worry about us. If you are in good standing with the lord God like we are, there is nothing to fear. Do not make me wait so long for an answer. Both of you, you and Robert, have the talent to play the violin out of my nerves. I’m hoping you get better soon. How is your health? How do you stand the rather unpleasant New York summer climate? The children have become rather slender. Harry has lost 8kg but he is still healthy and he calls himself a “matjes herring”. Eva has, according to the passport picture, the kind of figure that she always wished she had in Vienna but which the cuisine in Seidlgasse made it possible.

Paul, please write soon and please don’t be insulted that I am sending you postage. I automatically include it with all letters sent to other countries.

Kisses
Helen

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Both of today’s documents remind us again of how difficult the process to leave Europe was — no one made it easy or straightforward. As in previous letters, Helene talks about the lengths Vitali went to get the proper paperwork and documentation. It sounds like he haunted the American and Turkish consulates daily.

At this point, Paul Zerzawy has been living in New York for a few months, staying with relative Arthur Schiller who was a law professor at Columbia, and unable to find work. Like Vitali, Paul has spent much of the previous few years trying to get himself and family members out of Europe. When Eva arrived in San Francisco, she stayed with Arthur’s parents. We saw Eva’s letter about the physical exam in the June 26 post.

We saw in the letters from April 13 and May 7, 1940, that almost a year after today’s letter, Helene addressed Harry as “matjes herring” – her pickled herring. It appears he dubbed himself that in a letter I do not have that he wrote to his parents from Istanbul. I thought Helene made up all her pet names for her children, but apparently sometimes she had help! A friend who read this post found the following definition of “pickled herring”: “[Dutch pekelharing, from German pickelhering, from Pickelhering, droll comic character of the 17th century German stage] : buffoon.”

June 28

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Today we have a letter from soldier Harry Lowell in New Guinea to sister Eva Lowell in San Francisco.

New Guinea
June 28, 1944

Dearest of all my sisters,

I received your letters of June 5th, 10th, and 13th, and I was glad to learn that you finally found yourself a nice apartment. I imagine that you haven’t yet forgotten how to cook, although you have been away from it for so long. Do you remember that charcoaled beef-broth you made for us during your culinary apprenticeship – in your greenhorn days? Anyway, I would like to pay you a visit sometime and taste your cooking; how big is the new domicile? Don’t you think it would be a good idea to have one of your girlfriends live with you so that you don’t have to give parties to make cooking pay. Otherwise your apartment will cost you more than you expected. “I know,” says Mr. Anthony.

There is no news to give you, as usual; the war is still going on and nothing has happened here that would be of special interest to you. As you probably know, Ralph is on this island; he isn’t too far away from my camp, yet I haven’t had the chance to pay him a visit. When I see him I’ll tell him you said hello.

If you haven’t sent me those fountain pens yet, don’t send them, because I got one from my pal; send me a gallon of fresh milk, instead. Ah, milk! As soon as I get back to the states, I’ll get drunk on milk; I will drink gallon after gallon and eat half a steer on the side (rare, of course). It is wonderful to dream, isn’t it? Dreaming furthers one’s imagination and improves one’s sense of appreciation. I could ride in a streetcar all day and get a kick of doing so – especially now, on the consolidated Market and Municipal lines. I would even stand half an hour of one of those cocktail parties, mind you, half an hour!

Ursula has some sense of humor, hasn’t she? You ought to be able to retaliate and write scandalous letters yourself; you have a pretty good imagination and it wouldn’t be hard for you to pay her back.

What has come over the snake-charming family, that they got rid of their reptiles? I thought they were serious collectors; and now they trade their precious collection for a dog – what a shame!

I guess Paul is getting along all right. He probably keeps himself busy: I bet his little book is filled with appointments and concert tickets. Give him my best regards when you see him.

Sis, I am becoming an old man; judge for yourself. Before I came into the Army I had to shave only one and a half times a week, now I have to do it tow and a half times. To top that – I got hair on my chest now, I am a man; yep, the Army has made a man out of me. I suppose that staying around the jungle has something to do with this hairy transmutation; I must look into Darwin’s works some day. Maybe I can revise his theory a bit.

Do you realize that I will be twenty-two or older by the time I come back? Awful, is it not? What a waste of time! However, I am rather fortunate being as young as I am; imagine all those fellows that will be over thirty when they get out. You see, I have no reason to complain.

Do you like your job now or have you been thinking of that Standard Oil deal again? I am still quite in the dark as to your present job; tell me more, old girl.

In your association with servicemen you probably heard someone mention the term “section eight,” which means mentally unbalanced. (It is actually a paragraph in the military code, classifying unbalanced soldier under “unfit for service,” which means a discharge from the army.) As you can imagine, a lot of men have done their darndest to convince army psychiatrists of their insanity; some were successful, some weren’t. As a rule, nobody gets away with it unless he is a brilliant and highly intelligent actor; you’ll seldom find such a combination, because an intelligent man knows better. (Of course, that’s a matter of opinion) Do you think I am eligible for a “section eight”, after reading the following poem over which I labored for ten minutes? Here it is:

Jungle Wacky.
‘Twas a trally gnory morn,
Some Quackles in the croot were born.
They sliddle and snide
And dribble and hide.
What a jolly good time they had!

On comes Cobble with wings of flame;
The palm leaves clooned and burbled as he came.
He clickers and raires
And sneer and blairs.
His intentions were utterly bad!

The face of the Cobble was croopled and twixt,
Yon teeth of terror for eenie Quackles they ixed;
He sneeketh and crawls
And bambles and mawls.—
A meal of young Quackles he had!

Poor Quackles, so pippy and knacky they were!
‘Til Cobble so grootedly morted them there.
O wamble and Bloh,
O pity and woe!
Moral? – Stay out of the jungle my lad.

            Harry Lowell.

[handwritten along the side: Isn’t that awful?]

Well? You didn’t think I had it in me, did you? (I didn’t either.)

Well Eva, I think I have written you a longer letter than I intended to; I guess you deserve a long letter once in a while, because of your faithful and regular correspondence. Nevertheless this is going to be the last page, absolutely.

I have been receiving the Chronicle almost every week and I have enjoyed every copy; I am looking forward to receiving the Examiner. (A scandal sheet is just the thing for jungle life.)

Give my best regards to everyone and keep on writing. 

Love,
Harry.

P.S. I told Julia to look you up and taste your cooking; you can expect her any day.
P.P.S. When are you going to send me your picture, eh?

---

A few notes on Harry’s letter:

Mr. Anthony must be John J. Anthony (born Lester Kroll), who had a radio show called “Good Will Hour” that focused on marital problems. According to his New York Times obituary of July 18, 1970, the show opened with “Mr. Anthony, I have a problem.” and ended with “That’s my advice to you.” Reminiscent of Frasier Crane’s tag line “I’m listening.” In 1945, he published a book called “Mr. Anthony Solves Your Personal Problems.”

You can hear a segment of his radio show from 4/4/1945 and learn more about him here.

Harry’s desire to ride a cable car all day long was probably unfulfilled. According to the Market Street Railway website, “after Muni took over the Market Street Railway Co. in 1944, streetcar lines quickly vanished by the dozens…”

It is interesting to hear Harry’s take on soldiers trying to get discharged from the army – reminiscent of scenes from Catch-22 and M*A*S*H. His homage to Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky is quite an achievement for a non-native English speaker! 

June 27

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.

Today we have a letter from Helene in Vienna to her children Eva and Harry in San Francisco. As in a previous letter, they are still awaiting their visa from the American Consulate which has irritatingly closed during the last two weeks in June. They have tickets for a ship voyage from Italy to America on July 15.

Friday, 27 June 1941

My dear children!

There has been a terrible mugginess here the last few days, which has a debilitating effect on one, but what is debilitating me even worse is the fact that I have still not received any letters from you. We are experiencing the longest day, not just in the sense of the calendar but with the effects of not getting any mail and the fact that nothing is happening with our matters of emigration. We are living in such an abnormal time that the meaning of all geographical and astronomical concepts has shifted. For example, we have here at the same time the longest days and the longest nights. When we are able to be with you again, it’ll be the opposite. We are waiting every day 48 hours for the visa. You try doing that! The feeling of missing the train and waiting for the next one at the train station is coming over me when I look at our suitcases that are already packed. I could write a book about that. “The suitcases are looking at you!” Downright reproachfully. I suppress the wish to get a handkerchief in the most valiant way because I don’t want to have to open a suitcase. Every day I have washing to do because I have organized the changing of clothes in such a way that one set is drying while the other is being worn. You will tell me that that is how you do things in America. That’s true, but it’s only when you’re talking about underwear which is so easy to wash it’s like child’s play. But that’s not true of the sheets on the bed or the things you have to wash in the house. But what kind of nonsense am I telling you? I find that when I am writing to you, I need to keep my temperament in check because I don’t want you to be witnesses to an emotional outburst. And so I will end now. Maybe the days will start to get shorter again by Tuesday.

With many kisses
Helen

June 26

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.

This is a copy of a letter from Eva and Harry to the American Consulate General. I assume it was written by Eva — her English is fairly good, but not as fluent as it would become.

 Istanbul 26 June 1939

EVA & HARRY KOHEN
            From Vienna III Seidlgasse 25
at present living in Istanbul Sisli Bomonti Sagdic Sokak 14

            To the American Consul General       in         Istanbul

“Concerns the emigration of the above-mentioned Eva and Harry Kohen to the U.S.A.”

We recently received from the American consul General in Vienna a summons to the physical inquiry for July 20th 1939. We are enregistered on June 7th 1938 with the German Quota 28475-76

As we are at present in Turkey and do not want to return to Vienna, we beg you to communicate to the American Consulate in Vienna in order to get the permission that the physical inquiry should take place at the American Consulate in Istanbul and that you should be authorized to give out the visum.

We beg you to write as quick as possible to Vienna, as the physical inquiry must take place on July 20th 1939, otherwise it is possible that our emigration to the U.S.A. would be much delayed.

Please write us before long, to the above-mentioned address if it is possible to get here the visa.

Awaiting your quickest answer we remain, yours sincerely

---

Apple maps took me to Sağdıç Sk. No:14 in Istanbul:

The German quota appears to refer to US immigration quotas for Germany and Austria. It looks like Eva and Harry had visa numbers #28475 and 28476. According to the USHMM, only 27,370 visas were available, so they must have been added from the waiting list.

We see again the number of hoops there were to jump to escape an awful situation when no one wants you – neither the country or countries (both Austria/Germany and Turkey) eager to see you go (but perhaps more eager to torture you), nor your desired destination. Unlike their parents, Eva and Harry’s story had a happy ending.

June 24

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A letter from Helene in Vienna to her children in San Francisco.

Vienna, 24 June 1941

My dear ones! It’s unbelievably long the way the time passes by when my head and heart have nothing else to do except wait for letters from you or wait for the American visa. One would have to be a centipede, or really a millipede, to do all the errands that we have to do. We have put most of our possessions that we still have around into our suitcases and we have only left behind the necessary items such as hand towels and dishes and clothing in order to be able to at the very last minute put ourselves together and get to you. For weeks the containers with our travel effects have been looking at us rather suspiciously and when I dust them every day, I feel like I should excuse myself to them and to assure them that it is not our fault that they have to be penned up together in this heat and wait for the last moment in which we will be freed. A Faustian wish takes me over and when I see you, I will say “stay awhile, you are so beautiful.” This is the nth time that Papa has been to the shipping company and asked about our luggage. Achter is the name of the company that will be taking our order. Paul’s move was like a game of tag compared to ours, and probably the effect will be the same. The few objects which I would like to have there and which would make it easier for me to believe that we were setting up house there, I hope that these will arrive. Sentimentality was never my weakness. It would me most desirable to me to take just a minimum of hand luggage onto a plane and have ourselves transported through the skies to you. But since we live in abnormal times, the luxury of going with just a toothbrush and pajamas is something we cannot allow ourselves. We don’t know how long we’ll be traveling. I don’t really have anything new to tell you today except that the lack of mail is tearing an insurmountable hole in the power of my imagination (the only thing that I really have). When I think about you, I don’t even think of you in diary form anymore, but in contextless unorganized thoughts. And despite the troubles I go through to imagine what you are doing I just can’t seem to do it. From this collection of thoughts, it seems like dark and amber colored eyes are looking at me, those eyes that I love so much and that I will love forever. Little 2-year old Ebi once looked at the starry sky with Pepperl and she was fascinated. “Look Peppal, Ebi’s eyes are going for a walk up there. Do you see them shining?” I see your eyes shining when I look out the window at night and I send you my blessings telepathically. The longest day of the year has passed, and I hope we are soon coming to the most beautiful day of the year, the one in which I will be taking you into my arms, and not just in my thoughts.

With my most sincere greetings and kisses, I remain your
Helen

---

Helene never fails to come up with new nicknames and endearments. We’ve seen Ebi, her nickname for Eva, in a few earlier stories about her young daughter. And in this letter we have two sweet names for Papa – Pepperl and Peppal.

Again, Helene quotes Faust – according to Wikipedia, the quotation is from Part I when Faust is making a deal with Mephistopheles: “Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen: Verweile doch! Du bist so schön!“ – “Tarry a while! You are so fair!”

At this point Helene feels that like Faust, she is making a pact with the devil in order to be reunited with her children. In the end, she was trapped for years in Vienna, was sent to Ravensbrück, and never saw her husband again. She paid a high price indeed.

June 23

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Today we have another letter from Harry Lowell who is training in the Quartermaster Corps in Fort Francis E. Warren, Wyoming to his sister Eva Lowell in San Francisco. Eva has just finished her nursing degree.

June 22, 1943

Dear Sister,

Thanks for the letter (I have attended to the payments of the premiums; you may rest in peace now.) Say, could you write longer letters from now on; I usually read your letters in less than a minute and then am just as dumb as before. Pardon my criticism, old girl.

So you are going to graduate in August, eh? What are your plans? Did you get any word from the Red Cross and have you any chance of becoming an army nurse?

I’m certainly glad you didn’t show Tillie my letter; I’ll send you a few postcards so you can show them to her 

The weather has jumped from pretty cold to extremely hot temperature; I have been gypped out of Spring, so to speak.

I am getting to like Cheyenne now. It’s full of green trees and lawns; it looks like a nice city at present.

As I write this letter a drunk young punk is popping off and cussing at the army; the M.P.s just brought him in. Incidents like that happen almost every day. – And here I sit with a quart of milk, moo! Ain’t I the perfect specimen, though?

I’d make a good husband, wouldn’t I? With my virtues and additional skill in washing dishes, eh?….

How is Paul getting along? I haven’t heard from him yet; I guess I’ll write him another letter to wake him up.

I got a few letters to answer yet, so I’ll conclude my little letter.

Take care of yourself and keep smiling.

Your brother,
Harry

Fighting Quartermaster

P.S. Pardon my scribbling; I drank a quart too many. Moooo!

Harry ends his letter with a charming “self-portrait” as a “fighting quartermaster.” In previous letters, Harry has bemoaned that he will not see combat and instead has been placed in the quartermaster corps. (See posts from April 21 and June 8.)

---

June 22

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships. 

Istanbul, June 22, 1945

Dear Mrs. Helene, 

I am forwarding a telegram to you from San Francisco and letting you know that I took the same document to the American Consulate and spoke to Mr. Mac Vigor, the Vice Consul, about your case.

I was told that at this time these matters cannot be handled; registrations will however, start on July 15.  I was told to come back then. 

Mr. Mac Vigor might be willing to meet with you; below, I give you his address and his office hours in case you want to pay him a visit. 

Extending you my best greetings, I remain
Your
Yomtov Cohen

Address
Mr. Mac Vigor
Vice Consul
American Embassy
Beyoglu, Mesrutiyet Caddesi
Office Hours:  Mornings, 10 a.m. – noon
                      Afternoons, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

---

The Joint Distribution Committee (the Joint) had taken on the expense and responsibility for Jewish prisoners who had been freed in a prisoner trade and brought to Istanbul. However, their funds were limited and they did everything they could to resettle the prisoners and if possible reunite them with their family as soon as they could.

On the back of the letter is a note Helene drafted in English saying “Not allowed stay here any longer. Affidavit urgent or shall be sent to Palestine.” I assume this was the contents of a telegram she sent to Eva in San Francisco. The affidavit must have been provided, since Helene remained in Istanbul until she was able to come to the U.S. in 1946.

It seems cruel and unfair that after years of being trapped in Vienna and the horror of Ravensbrück, Helene could not escape bureaucracy, penury, and isolation. Rather than feeling joy and relief, she found herself sent down an unending rabbit hole of complications and delays.

Earlier this year (see posts from January 14 and January 26), we saw other efforts by Vitali’s relative Yomtov Cohen to help Helene. It must have been heartening to know that despite her difficulties, she had an ally.

June 20

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Today’s letter is from soldier Harry Lowell to his cousin Hilda Firestone. Harry lived with Hilda and her husband Nathan when he first arrived in San Francisco.

Philippines
June 19, 1945

Dear Hilda,

I wasn’t going to write you for another two weeks, however, circumstances compel me to break my resolution and send you a letter now in order to avoid misunderstandings that may be caused by a letter from my Colonel to Eva – a letter of recommendation in which he mentions that I have been hospitalized. Well, I want you to know right now that I am in full enjoyment of all my faculties including my good humor. I am enjoying the long-forgotten luxury of sleeping on clean white sheets and pillows, not forgetting the comfortable pajamas I wear all day.

I am writing you all this because I remember the last time the Coloner wrote a letter home he made me the hero of the family; this time he probably made me a martyr. The fact is that I turned in to the hospital because my metabolism has an aversion to tropical climate and a strong affinity, under the present circumstances, to the climate in the USA.

Here you have the story of my martyrdom in a nutshell; no Purple Heart, DSC, or pension. If I should get back I’ll have an opportunity to volunteer for the other side and be of help at least. So much for that.

I received your letter of April 3 and enjoyed it very much as usual. It is with misgiving that I look upon your menagerie; no good will become of it. Anything may happen in this fast-moving era of ours. What if Penelope and Mouffle ignore the instincts and conventions of nature and become pioneers of a new breed? Should offspring result from this mésalliance, I would suggest to add to the next potential litter a strain of canary or nightingale to give that revolutionary breed a bit of culture. (Maybe I ought to enter into the field of animal husbandry after the war.) Anyway, don’t let anything happen until Dr. Lowell arrives.

I should give you a description of the Philippines but I think I’ll narrate my experiences over the dinner table one of these days. I’m glad to have had the opportunity of seeing quite a lot in the Philippines.

In regards to your questions about the packages I was to receive, I haven’t received them yet, however, they are undoubtedly following me all over the Pacific. I did receive a package from a friend of mine the other day. Whatever had remained of a once-delicious fruitcake arrived here in a very pitiable condition. The contents of the moldy package consisted of half-inedible cake and half a collection of bugs, ants, caterpillars, and spiders. It was a very distasteful sight.

By the way, please tell everybody not to write me unless I write first from my new address. It’ll take letters a long time now to reach me. If anything important should come up, tell Eva to cable me at my old address – only when absolutely necessary.

Well Hilda, there isn’t much more to say. I hope everyone is well and happy. Please give my best regards to all. I hope to see you soon.

Love,
Harry

P.S. Please tell Eva not to answer the Colonel’s letter until I see her; I have something on my mind in regards to that letter. Thank you.

---

I continue to be amazed how the letters and documents in my archive answer most questions or corroborates stories I heard growing up. We saw the letter Harry refers to in my post of June 18. I assume the “other side” he considers volunteering for would be in Europe, where his language skills would have been extremely valuable.

Harry’s postscript might refer to another memory I have of something my mother told me – Harry probably showed his fellow soldiers photos of his sister (he often asks for photos in his letters), and the Colonel may have been interested in dating her upon his return. Harry would not have mentioned that she had married earlier in the year!

I do not know the breed (or species!) of Penelope, but we’ve seen photos of Mouffle in earlier posts. The letters continue to answer questions. In the February 21 post, the first letter that mentioned Mouffle, I guessed that Mouffle was the dog in the photo with Nathan and Hilda. In a letter posted a few weeks later, it became clear that Mouffle was indeed Hilda’s dog.   

Below is a photo with Eva, Harry, and Mouffle:

I looked through the photos I have of Hilda and Nathan and found one with a cat – perhaps this is Penelope?

June 19

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.

Over the past few weeks we have seen letters from Helene talking about her and Vitali’s anticipated departure from Europe on the ship Ciudad de Sevilla – see posts from May 29 and June 13. The saga continues in today’s letter to her children Eva and Harry.

 Vienna, 19 June 1941

My dear children! The obstacle course is not over yet. We have everything except the visas. Since the American consulate general is closed this month from the 15-30th, we cannot apply for the transit visa for Spain and Portugal until we have the American one. Originally, we were supposed to leave Europe on the Ciudad de Sevilla on July 15, but I can’t imagine that that will be possible since our passports will have to be sent to Berlin to get transit visas issued.

Vitali cannot understand that my dark mood is still continuing, even though we are so close to our goal. I am inconsolable because except for your two letters from the beginning of May, I have heard nothing from you. Although I am very busy with my travel preparations, the thought of what you are probably doing doesn’t leave me for a moment and the 14 days in which the consulate is on vacation seem unending to me.

Our store is no longer in our possession since the 15th of this month. However, Papa is still going there for an hour or two every day as long as we’re here. The new business will not open until the fall, so Vitali can continue to do his “stressful work” from 1200-1300 and from 1700-1800.

There is really nothing new to tell you. I hope that we will soon receive the summons for the doctor’s exam soon – i.e., soon after the opening of the holy doors of your consulate so that the sending and returning of our passports can happen in good time and we will still catch the small family rowboat. We are trying to send our luggage ahead and we are waiting every hour for permission from customs. We are weighing our hand luggage every day and hoping and hoping that it will become lighter by the time we leave.

I would love to know if you have gotten letters from us. Papa sings Manon while he is shaving – that is, my trained ear is hearing what he is trying to sing. He is in a good mood. He sometimes bellows out “He hombre” and when I look up in horror, he says, “oh that will be a great hurry when I call Harry that from the train station.” Well, it’s more than just a rush for me – it’s the fulfillment of the goal of my life -- I am so looking forward to it, but it’s more than singing He hombre can express. Cross your fingers, my little bunnies, that the last stage of our waiting is not delayed longer by any circumstances. I am dying to see you and hold you in my arms. The greatest happiness is waiting for us, although it is a leap into the unknown as far as the possibility of our existence, but Papa just laughs away my concerns about this.

Please greet all the dear ones and friends from us and cross your fingers, cross your fingers. I kiss you, I am yours, and I am still waiting so fervently for you

Helen

---

I often felt that my mother didn’t feel loved and appreciated for who she was. Eva was a strong, independent, intelligent, and often stubborn woman who had to grow up very quickly. In her 20s she found herself more in the role of parent than child while helping her mother make her way to San Francisco and settle here. When Eva and Harry came over, she never felt wanted – the story she told me was that young Harry had so charmed the American relatives when they visited Vienna in the 1930s that when it was clear things were heating up in Europe, they wrote to Helene and encouraged her to send him to be safe in their care. Helene would only send Harry if Eva went with him, and Eva felt that she was unwanted and barely tolerated. I don’t think she ever outgrew that feeling. These letters from Helene are so loving, warm, and witty – I hope that Eva believed her mother’s words and that they made her feel loved and valued, if only for a little while.

June 18

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Today we see a letter addressed to Eva Lowell (perhaps Harry did not know yet her married name) from her brother Harry’s commanding officer.

 HEADQUARTERS
83D QM Bn Mobile
APO 73

18 June 1945

Miss Eva M. Lowell
3494 21st Street
San Francisco, California

Dear Miss Lowell:

I am writing you a letter concerning your brother, Harry who has been a member of my command since April 26, 1944. Harry joined our unit in Milne, New Guinea for more than over a year. Your brother has rendered my Headquarters and the Army of the United States a very valuable service. There was never a time that he was not willing to give his entire resistance to work long hours to get the job done. You and your community should be very proud of your brother and hope sometime I will be able to meet you and Harry back in the States.

Harry is in fine shape physically with the exception of a rash that is apparently impossible to clear up here in the Pacific. The doctor states that this rash could only be cleared up back in the States. I wish him well and I know that he will be seeing you soon which undoubtedly will be a comfort to you.

It is with regret that Harry has to leave our organization with his fine services behind him, but on this matter it is very necessary that he be taken care of now.

Bruce A. Good
Lieutenant Colonel
QMC
Commanding

---

This letter made my mother very angry. If I recall correctly, she told me that it was delivered in person by a soldier. That, coupled with the bulk of the first paragraph, led my mother to think at first that her brother had died. I imagine that Eva spent much of the war being very anxious – for most of the time, she had no idea about the fate of her parents, and she must have worried every day about her brother in the South Pacific.

June 13

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.

Vienna, 13 June 1941

My children, dear Paul, and all of my dear ones!

On the 15 of July we are leaving with the Ciudad de Sevilla Europe by way of Lisbon. It would be appropriate for me to express our delight in a very exuberant way and to thank all of those who have helped us to achieve this in a very well written speech. But that doesn’t work today because of all the excitement (last week our departure was still very much in question) and the exhaustion – we are getting up about 4:15am and Papa often had to be at some office by 7am – so I am tired and I am no good for any mental work. I am just amazed at Vitali’s vitality! With him, it is a “nomen omen” [omen est nomen - the name is a sign]. But when we are out there on board the Seviglia, I will drink manzanilla with Carmen and dance the seguidilla out of delight that I will be with you soon. Our horses have been saddled and we’re just waiting for the shipper to pick up our things and take them to the Portuguese “stall.” He let you know yesterday by telegram about our order and we hope that the telegram came through without any difficulty. For this reason, we want to get an answer by telegram. We will, if everything goes well, leave a few days early for Lisbon, because the train trip in today’s current conditions will take about 5-7 days. We are thinking of leaving Vienna 8-10 days before our rowboat departs from Lisbon. What do you think about that? We are taking the de Seviglia. Lisette will be surprised when she hears about that. 

Today we really thought we would get our passports issued and while Papa is waiting in Prinz Eugenstrasse [the Turkish embassy] and taking care of the agenda items that are still missing. Then came a card which said that we would also need a certification from the Employment Office to certify that this office has no objection to our departure. One more day of delay, but that’s all right. We still have enough time, even if there are a few more things that stand in our way.

On the 15 of June, the Stubenring will not see us anymore except as visitors. Papa will never have such great work hours again as he has been able to arrange here. Which are from about 11am to 1pm and 5-6pm. I must admit that Papa has been very strict about the closing time. One minute after this time, he was already long gone. The miracle of the Stubenring. All the other shopkeepers admired him.

Our acacia trees on Kopalplatz are really blooming a lot and I can feel their fragrance when I stand by the window at night. Even if there is quiet above all tree tops, I feel their whisper.

Trrrrrrrrrrr [imitating a phone ringing] - it was Papa - he called me to let me know that he had taken care of the matter with the employment office and that I should be ready by 2pm to receive my passport. It all seems like a dream to me and I take care of business like a well-oiled machine. I have a feeling as one often does in a dream - when you dream something that you wish for but to still stay in touch with reality a little bit and say, “well, it is just a dream.” Dreams were my El Dorado in the last few weeks because through dreams I was with you. Soon, in order to speak with you I will not have to dream burlesques anymore.

It is time to finish making the food and I will have to get my ticket for the great big confusion which is known as “Vitali and Helene Cohen’s trip to heaven.” I am starting to reflect and to feel that I am awake and that I am not just some fool who is being duped by her wishes. I run around, I walk, I hurry to receive my happiness document. No matter what I do, the ship will not leave a moment earlier, but I will be cheering: “I have a passport, my own passport!” At night I will put it under my pillow and dream about you again.

On Monday, Papa will find out if he can take his work with him or not. Even in the most unfortunate case Papa promised me we will leave and we will leave his work behind, even though he really doesn’t want to. O n  T i m e! He has, as usual, been proven right. On time! Punctual! A nice word. Don’t you think so?

We are still being boycotted by the post and we haven’t received anything from you. You will have to make it up to me.

Kissssssssssses

Helen

---

A few observations:

In her greeting to her family, Helene acknowledges that her letters are being shared with all the relatives.

Helene alluded to their upcoming visit to Spain in the May 29 post.

Lisette was a young relative of Vitali’s (perhaps his niece) in Istanbul (see letter in May 11 post). Her last name was something like de Sevilla – I assume her mother’s married name.

I looked up Kopalplatz, which no longer exists. It is now known as Oskar-Kokoschka-Platz and was quite near Helene and Vitali’s shop on the Stubenring and about a half-mile from their home on Seidlgasse. I suppose it’s possible the fragrance of the acacias wafted that far on a summer night.

As is so often the case, Helene alludes to Goethe in this letter. When she writes of the acacia trees, she uses a pun to reference a Goethe poem  – über allen Gipfeln; Gipfel = mountaintop; Wipfel = treetop]. You can hear a version of Schubert’s version of the Goethe poem here.

As they prepare to leave and it is looking likely that they will succeed, ever more hurdles are put in their way: Vitali haunts the Turkish consulate daily, rules on what they are allowed to take with them change constantly, new bureaucratic requirements pop up to obstruct their progress.

There is one word in my grandmother’s letter that I had trouble finding a translation for: “Remasouri”. Roslyn translated it as confusion or mess, but I wanted to see if there was any other possible reference or translation. The only thing I could find with was “remasuri” which is the name of a German language card in the science fiction role-playing card deck “Magic: the Gathering.” Often the ideas and words in modern games come from classical references, so I’m guessing that the card name came from some arcane source. Given Vitali’s mystical and metaphysical profession and the tone of Helene’s letter — our two heroes on a years-long adventure with obstacles to overcome but appearing to be reaching the end of their quest — the cards with magic, wizards and dragons seemed absolutely appropriate.

June 12

Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.

Today we have a letter from Helene’s daughter Eva in Istanbul to her cousin Paul Zerzawy in the U.S. — Eva and Harry’s parents Helene and Vitali are in Vienna trying to arrange for their family’s departure to the U.S.

 Istanbul, 12 June ‘39

Dear Paul!

We got copies of both of your letters from Mother. It is very nice of you to help us but I don’t think your efforts will have much success because there are a lot of people here who are waiting for their emigration to America. It’s not a bad place to wait in Istanbul. At first I didn’t like it here, because in the best and most elegant streets the cobblestones are as bad as in the worst suburbs in Vienna. Going through the entire city as far as I know the city, there is like one street which goes pretty straight and is fairly good and there are to the left and the right small streets that go downhill to the sea and uphill to the other side. To make walking even more difficult, on the sidewalk there are what appear to be half inch high steps which one has to climb up. Now finally I am starting to see what beautiful buildings there are in the streets, because at first I was just paying attention to my feet so I wouldn’t fall. In the first month we were here, we had no money at all, but then as if some sort of miracle, a donation came for which I could buy some material for making silk flowers. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot to be done with that here, although most women run around like flower shops. I did get some orders from the two biggest stores, probably because I’m an immigrant, but unfortunately just once because they don’t need anymore. I was working while cooking on the gas flame, trying to save as much as possible, and I earned just about enough that I could buy myself a French textbook and dictionary.

For the last week I have a position as a seamstress in a laundry. And I am getting 15 Turkish lire a day. To translate into hours, I’m getting the equivalent 8RPF an hour. At the moment I’m not getting much done because the idea is that you’re supposed to work quickly, and I don’t even understand how to use the machine very well yet. People in the store are very nice and don’t treat me like an employee. They know that I’m not someone who knows how to do this kind of work and they hired me anyway. I am trying to learn as fast as I can. I do have an hour lunch break that I use for that purpose. One of the bosses speaks German very well and with the other female workers I speak French, but it’s anything but correct. Now I’m actually mostly learning Turkish since I probably have a lot more chance of getting a good job and one that is well paid with that. I must save my money in order to pay for our stay with the relatives because they are being burdened by our stay here. I will them give 7 Turkish lire - that’s all I can give them - because I need the rest for my travel and lunch.

I unfortunately can’t write anymore today because I have to leave and it’s 7:30. My greetings to the Schiller family and I wish that your attempts to find a job will soon find success.

Many Kisses,
Eva

P.S. Send the letters to us together with those from the parents to save postage.

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This is one of the few letters I have written by my mother. It’s wonderful to hear her voice and see her handwriting, both of which were virtually the same at 18 as it was at 80. Even at that young age, she was practical, independent, making the best of a difficult situation, spending nothing on herself except for necessities. At least on paper, she sounds optimistic and fearless – she will do whatever it takes to support herself and succeed. She doesn’t complain or rue the things she can’t control or the dreams that are dashed, or at least delayed. At the same time, she is concerned about her own (much older) cousin’s financial situation and asks him not to worry about them. (I was not able to figure out what 15 Turkish lira/8 German Reichsmarks were worth to get a sense of how little or how much Eva was making and spending.)

We heard some of the same news from Helene when she wrote to her nephew on May 30. In that post, we saw examples of Eva’s flower making tools. Helene mentions how amazed she is at the practical streak in her children – they are figuring out how to survive in Istanbul on their own, since the relatives cannot afford to support them. Knowing that her children could thrive independently must have been both heartening and bittersweet – it must have helped her immensely in the years of separation to come to know that they would likely land on their feet.

June 10

Helene sends the following brief note to let her children Eva and Harry know they are never out of her thoughts.

 Vienna, 10 June 1941

My dear children! This week also has passed by without having received any letters from you. Papa is working like crazy to arrange our departure and all of our matters more quickly. You will have no idea of the difficulties which we have had to overcome. Yes, it is no pleasure to travel during time of war. The pleasure will not come until we can take you into our arms again. We had such a stressful day yesterday that I have very little time for writing today and I am also very tired. The purpose of the few lines today is just to allow for no interruption in our correspondence and to let you know that we are doing well. As far as our matters are concerned, nothing has changed since the last letter. It is possible that there will be more to report in the next few days.

For today, just lots and lots of kisses to you and all the loved ones

Helen

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As Helene writes this letter, Harry is preparing to graduate from Washington High School